The General Federation of the Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (GFEC) signed a cooperation protocol with its Chinese counterpart to boost cooperation in the fields of trade and investment.

In a statement, Ahmed Antar, the head of the Commercial Representation Authority, said that more than 1,070 Chinese companies are currently operating in Egypt with a total investment of $554 million.

Antar added that China ranks 21st among foreign investors in Egypt.

The cooperation protocol is meant to improve production through 11 ventures in the domains of energy, transport, logistics, infrastructure, and car manufacturing, Antar said.

The agreement will be implemented under the supervision of a quartet committee including representatives of the Egyptian trade and industry and investment ministries as well as China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Chinese trade ministry.

In September, Egypt signed a number of contracts with Chinese companies to implement development projects in the country with an investment worth $18.3 billion.